


A Conversation While Waiting

by RosalindInPants



Series: Children Being Nosy [1]
Category: The Great Library Series - Rachel Caine
Genre: Gen, filling tiny canon gaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 17:21:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17812196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalindInPants/pseuds/RosalindInPants
Summary: While they wait at the Spanish embassy for the group to be reunited, Khalila asks Santi what we all want to know: why aren't he and Wolfe married?Set during Smoke and Iron.





	A Conversation While Waiting

Waiting was the hardest part, and it seemed to Khalila that every step of their journey back to the Library only brought more of it. This time, they waited in the courtyard of the Spanish embassy for Captain Santi's men to return with Scholar Wolfe and the Brightwell brothers. It wasn't as tense as it had been earlier in the day, when all they had were reports that first Wolfe, then Jess had been taken to the Archivist. Santi had just about lost control of himself at the report Wolfe had been taken for questioning, snapping at his lieutenant, the Spanish embassy staff, anyone who got within range. Khalila had the good sense to keep Dario well away from him; the captain might have refrained from taking any of his anger out on Dario thus far out of respect for Khalila, but she didn't trust him in that state.

He had grown calmer - they all had - with subsequent reports, the latest that one of his squads succeeded in rescuing their friends from the prison transport, all with only minor injuries. Of course, "minor injuries" left room for a great deal of unseen damage, and Khalila could see the fear of that in Santi as he paced along one wall of the courtyard.

Each of them found their own way to cope with the uncertainty and anticipation. Thomas sketched automatons. Glain had gotten into what Khalila hoped was a friendly wrestling match with one of the Spanish guards. Dario debated the dinner menu with his cousin, the ambassador. And Khalila found herself restless, unable to stay in one place for long. She joined in Dario's conversation long enough to confirm that there would be something halal to eat, but charmingly, he had already thought of that, and there was nothing for her to add. After giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she drifted over toward Thomas and watched him draw what looked like an improved lion automaton, standing quietly behind him so as not to disrupt his focus. Looking up from the sketchbook, she observed that Glain had drawn something of an audience and appeared to be beating the Spanish guard soundly. That left Santi, still pacing with restless energy. That worried her.

Leaving Thomas to his work, she approached Santi, hopeful that a distraction from his fears would help. Besides, there was something she had been meaning to ask him. She had planned to wait until he was safely reunited with Wolfe, but maybe this conversation might be better without Wolfe's input. Wolfe seemed unlikely to give an honest answer.

"Captain," she said, coming up beside him and matching his pace. "I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

He stopped and turned to her, hope replacing some of the tension in his expression. "What is it? Have we gotten another report?"

"No, nothing more yet," she said. "It's something more personal, and I will, of course, understand if you do not wish to answer."

He regarded her with curiosity for a moment. "You want to ask me about Christopher. Why now?"

"Because we have nothing else to do, and I suspect that it will be some time before I have the opportunity to ask again." Santi regarded her with suspicion as she spoke, and, suspecting the direction of his thoughts, she shook her head. "It isn't about Rome." That was the last thing Santi should be thinking about at a time like this.

The suspicion didn't vanish entirely, but he nodded. "Go on, then."

"I was only wondering why, after you have been together for so long, you and Scholar Wolfe have not married." She couldn't help but glance over at Dario, her inspiration for this bit of nosiness.

"What does it matter?" But before she could answer, he had already followed her gaze and reached the correct conclusion. "Ah, so Dario's proposal was sincere, then. And you won't answer without giving the matter thorough consideration."

Khalila nodded. "Was there something that stopped you and Scholar Wolfe?"

Santi looked away, his expression a mixture of emotion Khalila couldn't read. Regret, perhaps. Love and longing, certainly. She almost thought he wouldn't answer, but at last he said, "I asked him twice. He refused both times. The first was when we were almost as young as you, and I don't think he even thought I meant it seriously. I asked again when he moved in with me. We had everything shared between us by then, a home, finances, as much of our work as could be managed. We even had provisions filed in case of death. That was his reason for refusing: it wasn't necessary. That, and his mother would have made it a headache to plan a wedding."

Something in his tone prompted Khalila to ask, "But that wasn't really true, was it?"

Santi shrugged. "Oh, on a practical level, it was. We had everything we needed, and marriage wouldn't have changed anything. And his mother might well have found some way to involve herself in any wedding we planned, although I would have been happy enough just to elope. Really, though, I think the idea of marriage made him think of the Iron Tower, all those couples kept together not for love, but because they were told they had to be. Chris wanted to be certain that I was with him not because we were legally bound to one another, but because I wanted to be."

And obviously he did. Even after having his proposals rejected, after everything the two of them had been through, here he was, waiting anxiously for Wolfe. Khalila could only hope she and Dario might achieve that sort of devotion. She certainly didn't think Dario would be so patient in waiting for an answer to his own proposal. "Would you ever ask him again, if you thought he might change his mind?"

She expected a quick answer, but Santi took a long moment to think before saying, "I don't know. Weddings are about promises, and what promises could we make to each other now that haven't already been fulfilled?" He smiled, just a little, and shook his head. "But that doesn't help with your dilemma, does it? You should trust your judgment, Khalila. It hasn't steered you wrong yet."

She wished she could be as certain of that as he sounded. She might have argued the point, but at that moment, the ambassador called for their attention, and, along with the others, she and Santi hurried toward him. Dario's cousin had an excited expression on his face and an open Codex in his hand, which gave her hope of more good news.

**Author's Note:**

> Considering the characters, this seemed like the most logical explanation. Other possibilities that I considered:  
> \- Library politics (Wolfe already is treated differently than other Scholars due to his mother being the Obscurist Magnus, so maybe marrying a high-ranking officer adds unpleasant political complications)  
> \- Scholars and/or High Garda just don't usually get married (maybe it's more of a thing that people like Dario and Khalila from wealthy political families do? Have we even seen any other married couples in this series?)  
> \- Family drama/disapproval (Wolfe's mother seems to like Santi, but we really haven't seen Santi's family)
> 
> Unlikely but not impossible:  
> \- Gay marriage isn't legal in Alexandria (given that it's common knowledge that Wolfe and Santi are a couple and absolutely no one has said anything negative about that, I'm assuming gay couples have equal rights here)  
> \- Religion (in the real world, pagans are generally fine with gay marriage and the Catholic church isn't, but who knows how that translates into this setting; neither Wolfe nor Santi seems all that religious, so it probably isn't relevant)


End file.
